sculptural forms

Aviary # 1 by Sheridan Jones

A friend is in town from Brisbane and so we drove all over the Mt Macedon, Trentham, Daylesford, Kyneton area yesterday giving her a small taste of country Victoria. Last stop was The Stockroom in Kyneton, my favourite contemporary art/design space to visit in that area. They support local artists and designers and showcase their work in a huge old ex butter factory. I was transfixed by works on paper by Sheridan Jones in a group show called Chicks with Knives. Sheridan makes sculptural forms of animals using her etchings and stained paper. The pic above is one I took of her work while in the gallery yesterday. From a few metres back I initially mistook her work for taxidermy. Intrigued I stepped close and became silent in awe of her paper based work. Such extraordinary detail.

Digging around this morning I found this recent interview with Sheridan on Golden Artnet about her work and a show she did at the Castlemaine Contemporary Art Space. It's a great read. Check out her owl in the beautiful old glass jar.

If you go to The Stockroom make sure to also visit Lauriston Press Gallery on the same street (Piper St). Owner and printmaker Sarah Gabriel stocks some beautiful work there including those of Daylesford based artist and bird print maestro, Bridget Farmer.

Foodies will love that there is a new place in town: St Beans Provedore right next to Annie Smithers' Bistro. 

etching class with Bridget Farmer

some of the work I made at Bridget's studio

Fruiting Habit

The lovely Daylesford sky

After spending 2 days in Bridget Farmer's gorgeous print studio near Daylesford I feel very inspired and energised.
Bridget taught me the ins and outs of drypoint etching and I seriously think I've found a new printmaking addiction. Bridget's work alone is inspiring enough. Take a look at this gallery of some of her gorgeous bird etchings. Oooh la la! Aren't they just divine?

Bridget's originally from Northern Ireland but has lived in Australia for a few years now. Her current home is the gorgeous bushland near Daylesford which is where you'll also find her peaceful printmaking studio. And I can vouch that Bridget knows her birds! Her studio has several enormous windows looking onto the bush and while we chatted over lunch and cups of tea she regularly pointed out various little feathered beauties as they perched in tree branches nearby. I was impressed. My own bird naming knowledge doesn't extend much beyond knowing what galahs, lorikeets, cockatoos and the occasional magpie look like.

And the printmaking! What fun! Working in the etching medium allowed me to unleash my passion for linear forms, something that is quite hard to portray through relief printing, like woodblock or lino. So based on my botanical sketches I printed up a storm of various botanical inspired etchings and got to experiment with colour and shading under Bridget's support and guidance. I can't speak highly enough of the soft and gentle approach Bridget has towards teaching what she knows about etching. It was a really magical couple of days for me.

The good news is Bridget's running classes. So you too can learn about various kinds of etching processes in the peace and quiet of Bridget's lovely bushland studio.

paper cuts [but not the painful kind]

This new paper cut book is definitely on my wish list. More pics inside here on a little hut in case you're interested. And on the subject of paper cut goodness have a look at what printmaker Bridget Farmer is cutting - a flock of doves for her wedding decorations. I'm not much of a fan of weddings (yep, I've said it, don't yell at me) but if you have to have one then a flock of paper doves is a must, no?

My favourite paper cut artist, Beatrice Coron, has some beautiful new work happening on her website. Go be inspired. I'm really enjoying her paper cuts of city scapes in white on white.

On other cutting news, I'm off to cut lino blocks. A whole different cutting experience. But still very therapeutic.